What do you want to celebrate about 2021?

If asked to list all our accomplishments for 2021, what would be our top 5 that we would want to celebrate? Besides the testimonies about our healing, high business returns, costly investments on assets and so on, we will be tempted to summarize our achievements to those that gave us profit or earned a goodwill, giving us reason to celebrate.

But, Pastor/leader when coming to specifics, Christian, what have you done this year that God is celebrating about you? We all like to flaunt activities and programs that gathered crowd, but barely giving attention to measurable outcomes. The poor ‘outcome’ in any of our activities and programs are never considered. Churches in most cases are institutionalized. Crowd control has become the top priority for Church leadership. At the end of the day all have a reason to be happy. But do you think that makes God happy and if He has a reason to be proud, what would that be?

Do we want to still measure our achievements based on ABC method - Attendance, Building and Cash? How should we actually be measuring our accomplishments? Let me throw some light in this blog. In a blog written earlier I have enumerated the top 3 purposes for every individual ( Finding Purpose), which I would like to bring to your notice once again. They are:

1. Knowing God and having fellowship with Him (John 17:3; 1 Cor 1:9)

2. Being a disciple maker (Matthew 28:19, 2 Timothy 2:2)

3. Be a carrier of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3)

Hence, in terms of the purpose of every individual listed above, how would we measure our progress and celebrate it?

In terms of the Christ's Commission to all, as stated in Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15, where do we like to position ourselves? Have we been intentional in sharing the gospel and making disciples? People who have churches would want to respond by saying we have shared the gospel and have been investing on them weekly. Great! But what is the ROI (Return of investment)? How many in our congregation were successful in leading at least one person to Christ? It is easy to pray for the nation for salvation and have seminars about evangelism without actually acting upon it. Evangelism in many cases have become a spiritual fashion word.

Actual evangelism thrives on relationship, which has been brutally marred in this digital age. No one has time to spend with the one lost soul, do weekly follow-ups and walk with them patiently. We act more like flying squads, distributing tracts, forwarding videos, sharing YouTube links, presenting a discourse and assume it will do its work. Evangelism is much more than just what was listed. It is sparing our time intentionally, building relationship and walking with the person in the journey before we can actually prepare the person to be a vibrant disciple.

If heaven has a reason to celebrate, then it is based on what is said in Luke 15:7 “I tell you in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.”

Churches and Christians think they need to grow more in the Lord, be filled more with Holy Spirit and speak more in tongues. But if they were to be asked to define what is ‘more’, many would be blank with no answer. If our ‘more’ is not filling our hearts with compassion for people (Matthew 9:36) and we are unwilling to reach out to them, then our so called ‘more’ is meaningless. Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:19, “… I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, then ten thousand words in tongue.”. Let our five words be the gospel to save dying souls.

In the day of Pentecost more than ten language group people heard the gospel in their own language. Isn’t it wonderful to know that the tongues were not limited to ‘prayer language’ but used to proclaim the gospel? Jesus when stating the Great Commission recorded in Mark 16:17 says, “.. they will speak in new languages”, which is to carry the gospel in people’s known languages. If we have a reason to celebrate then it should always be in connection with the purpose of the individuals and the Great Commission. That, God would be proud about!

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Christmas Evangelism –It's A Fishless Fishology, how true?

 

We have arrived at that time of the year where Churches and Christian organizations gear up for frenzied Christmas activities to attract their community and beneficiaries. Church buildings are prepped up with festive mood and religiosity is at its peak. Christians ardently celebrate it as a festival calling it the ‘Bada Din’ – Big Day in Hindi. It’s those of us who are regular attendees of the Church, celebrate the season for our satisfaction. But are we making any difference in this season? Also, Christian organizations make big plans for evangelism and implement programs, again to what outcomes?

Evangelism drive has become a farce of big numbers of people hearing the Gospel and giving their lives to Christ, but as Christians we fail to cringe at the fact that we flaunt numbers to impress Churches, well-wishers and donors. Do we really evangelize? As individuals, have we lead at least one person to Christ? We need to honestly ask ourselves these questions. Sadly, as Christians we have ended up with the tag line – “99 stimulate the 99 to mobilize the 99 for resources to reach nation”. But it is so far from reality because statistics of our country regarding Christians don't lie.

Jesus points out what brings immense joy in Heaven, "I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance."  Luke 15:7 CSB. What does the verse reverberate? Crowd Evangelism and crowd mobilization are sweet music to our ears, but Heaven is still patiently waiting to rejoice over the one who honestly repents and finds Jesus. Evangelism is not only a lifestyle but the willingness to walk patiently with that one person for a period of time to ensure he / she repents and becomes not only a disciple but also a disciple maker. May God stir our hearts to make a meaningful contribution in the life of one person, multiplying into many, in order to bring Great joy to heaven.

Let us see a parable that summarizes this message beautifully:

A Parable of Fishless Fishermen

Now it came to pass that there was a group of people who called themselves fishermen and lo there were many fish in the waters around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish and the fish were hungry. Week after week, month after month, year after year, those who called themselves fishermen met in meetings to talk about their call to fish, the abundance of fish and how they might go about fishing.

Year after year they carefully defined what fishing meant, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing was always the primary task of the fishermen. Continually they searched for new and better methods of fishing and for new and better definitions of fishing. One thing they didn’t do however. They didn’t fish. Large, elaborate and expensive training centers were built, whose original and primary purpose was to teach fishermen how to fish. All through the years, courses were offered on the need to fish, the nature of fish, where to find fish, classifying fish, and the psychological reactions of fish.

Those who taught had doctorates of fishiology but the teachers didn’t fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, after tedious training, many were graduated and were given fishing licenses.

After one meeting on the necessity for fishing, one young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported that he caught two outstanding fish. He was honored for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the main meetings possible to tell how he had caught the two big fish. So, he quit his fishing in order to have time to tell about his experiences to the other fishermen and also to make a movie on the big catch. He was also placed on the fishermen’s general board because of his considerable experience.

Now it’s true that many of “the fishermen” were truly sincere and really sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. After all, were they not following the master who said “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Imagine how hurt some of them were when one day a person stood up and suggested that those who didn’t catch fish were really not fishermen no matter how much they claimed to be. Yet it did sound correct.

Is a person a fisherman if year after year he never catches fish? Is one following, if one isn’t fishing?

(Author unknown)

If we or our Church are like this fishless Fishermen, we would be deemed useless and dead weight. Are we ready to allow God to speak to us and align ourselves to the honest call for evangelism?

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

What influences your decision?

Our decisions are influenced each day by so many factors for example, from trying to be good, to giving up on certain things that we once decided, returning to our earlier decisions, deciding on a deal, abandoning a deal and so on and so forth. Circumstances and context are so powerful that it can shake our conviction at any point depending on what the conviction is based upon. Most of the time we arrive at a conclusion through the experiences we went through, lessons learnt and then we decide and make certain decisions. The same decisions aren’t a guarantee that we would stand by it all our Life. If life seem promising and enchanting, we may make a new one and go with it.

The next is determination, we determine in our hearts to stand by or withdraw from certain things based on a conviction that we derive from our inner conscience. The same is influenced by our commitment and devotion to God.

A point of caution here should be that at any point our decisions shouldn't be based on our feelings because it can be disastrous. Another important thing is that Psychologists claim our action and decisions of doing things depends on either to avoid pain or gaining pleasure. This will fetch us a lot of problems and can be disastrous. Both, circumstances and convictions can be misleading if we do not base our decisions on finding the will of God and hearing from Him. It is challenging because we can support our decision after we have made one and draw God's support towards it or wait on the Lord and be prepared to either stand with a newer one or abandon because it doesn't suit God's parameter.

Do not forget, you were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth by the Master Craftsman (God). When He gazes upon you, He doesn’t see an ordinary lump of clay. He sees a beautiful work of art, uniquely molded and shaped according to his loving design. There is a customized plan for you already by our sovereign God, therefore align your perspective, decisions and conviction in the word of God and hearing from Him. Don't allow time and chance to win your ambiguity. Stand with God's plan for you and find His promises from scripture supporting you. 

Eight tests for Decision making

1.Scriptural Test – “Has God already spoken about it in His word?” (2 Timothy 3:16)

2.Secrecy Test – “Would it bother me if everyone knew this was my choice?” (Proverbs 11:3)

3.Survey Test – “what if everyone followed my example?”  (1 Timothy 4:12)

4.Spiritual Test— “Am I being people-pressured or spirit-led?” (Galatians 1:10)

5.Stumbling Test – “Have I prayed and received peace about this decision?” (Romans 14:21)

6.Serenity Test— “Have I prayed and received peace about this decision?” (Philippians 4:6-7)

7.Sanctification Test --  “Will this keep me from growing character of Christ?” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

8.Supreme Test – “Does this glorify God? (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Rich Church Poor Christian!

 

For you say “I’m rich I have become wealthy and need nothing and you don’t realize that you are wretched pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”. Revelation 3:17

The description of the Church of Laodicea is the reality of most Churches today. The city of Laodicea was one of the three cities in the Lycus river valley, wealthy and famous for three primary characteristics - Finances, Fashion and Pharmaceuticals. 

1. Finances: It was a center for banking and finance, known through the Roman Empire for its wealth and financial power.
2. Fashion: It was renowned for the soft, black wool produced there. This wool was considered a luxury item, which was sought after for clothing and rugs. Laodicea was the center of fashion in its day. The newest styles appeared here first.
3. Pharmaceuticals: There was a famous medical school in Laodicea which produced medicines that was sold all over the Roman empire.

It is registered in history that the people of this city prided upon their financial independence that they refused Roman financial aid from Caesar after an earthquake, which devastated the city in 61 A.D.  The Church of Laodicea was much influenced by this prideful mindset of luxury and self-contentment. Laodicean Church blindly considered themselves to be  the perfect Church. They were wealthy, powerful and felt they had all they needed in terms of position, possessions and power. They pitifully thought they have arrived to the perfect point of the Church's existence. There are many Churches similar to this who think reaching the state of perfect contentment with respect to wealth, sufficient resources and lustrous ambience is all that matters in Christendom. Having a grand architectural outlook and elite, exclusive group of people attending the Church are the dream of most of the Pastors.  Ray Ortlund states this hard truth this way, “When our Churches succeed because they are really well-run businesses, and the Pastor is, in reality, a prop on the stage, then it isn’t ministry anymore; it is brilliantly packaged crowd control. And Judgement is not too far off.”.

Christendom has grievously errored in Christ's definition of Church. Wretchedly, many Churches are following the ideology of Judas who thought he had a better plan and improvised idea of Jesus’ teachings. In the book of John 12, it is recorded that when Mary poured the pound of perfume which was pure and expensive to anoint the feet of Jesus, it is because she saw Christ as the final destination to man’s pursuit of finding God. But Judas saw it as a pure waste of resources. He thought he can use the name of Jesus and His ideology to bring money into the paradigm and do things that can be amplified and spoken about. Judas remarked in Verse 4 “Why wasn’t the perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”. The next verse immediately clarifies his intention as, “He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief…”

It is definitely not wrong to follow the Holistic Church model where it demands social intervention, vibrant evangelism and structured social work as part of the model, but it will be definitely be a poor Church when it adds business solutions as part of its existence. Jesus vehemently condemned when He saw the temple becoming a business. He said, “..but you are making it a den of thieves!” (Matthew 21:13). Somehow, we think we need to find money, make money using people and His name to fulfil Christ's mission on this earth. They failed to realize they are disappointingly wrong and confined to condemnation. In reality, we use God and people for personal wealth and fame.

The dilemma of who owns the Church:

Every Church strives to become a branded exclusive township. Its leaders assume they have established the Church and it belongs to them and their denomination. Little do Churches realize that Jesus died for the Church and purchased it with His own blood as it says Acts 20:28. He builds it and sustains it as said in Matthew 16:18 and Ephesians 2:19-22. The Church exists for His glory. We are for Him alone! Our duty is to preach Him, praise Him, promote Him and publish Him. This is not your Church; this is not my Church! It is Christ's Church. We don't need people like Diotrephes as mentioned in 3 John 9. We must keep the Church and the ministry centered in Him. Beware! if you resemble the Church of Laodicea; rich and wealthy but poor and naked.

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Compliance or Commitment?

 

Is trusting God the essence of our Christian life or is it just an obligation to Christian compliance?

Trusting God can merely be a ritual than a meaningful decision to follow Christ. Mere involvement in Christian activities can give us immense satisfaction without any urge for intentional engagement. To elaborate my point, worship service with good music and singing can attract us and elevate us emotionally, yet remain disconnected in our soul. Unlike Old-Testament age where compliance was the highest priority we are now living in New-Testament age where the focus is on the purity of heart and meeting the demands of a pure conscience. However, as believers we have complacently settled for compliance by regular Church attendance, weekly fasting and paying tithes and offerings without actual engagement with Christ. It's very similar to the days of Jesus where the Pharisees and the scribes rejected the teachings of Jesus for mere adherence to compliance and confronted Him to get His approval and applause. I give below few instances from the Bible that portray this picture. Questions raised by the Pharisees on compliance:

 1. How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? -Matthew 9:14

2.  Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  - Matthew 15:3

3.  When the Pharisees, saw this, they said to him “See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on Sabbath.” Matthew 12:2

4.  Why does he (Jesus) eat with tax collectors and Sinners? - Mark 2:16

5. A doctrinal question from the Pharisee (Matthew 22: 23-28), “In the resurrection, then whose wife will she be of the seven? For all had married to her” They quoted Moses' law (23:24)

To establish our Christian identity, we meet the bare minimum requirements of the Church. The most important truth of finding purpose of life is conveniently overlooked on a daily basis. Apart from this important teaching, every other aspect coupled with encouragement is preached from the pulpit week after week to satisfy the congregation's demand. We too as average Christians have settled to be a good believer and remain faithful to the Church. It ends up in mutual bliss, failing to ask ourselves, is this all Christ demands? Why is that people’s disengagement to Christ's Mission not bothering the Church leadership?

Allow me to present the major purpose of every individual in a crux, as follows:

1. To Know God and to have fellowship with Him.

Jesus' prayer to His Father is profound. John 17:3 “This is eternal life: "that they may know you the only true God, and the one you have sent - Jesus Christ”. Most of us assume knowing God is to have theoretical knowledge of Him and that is sufficient enough to take care of the first purpose of an individual. But we will agree that knowing God is much more than that. It means to make a meaningful decision to commit one’s life to Christ and follow His teaching. This new relationship enables a person to have a fellowship with Him all the time and following His will in one’s life.  In 1 Corinthians 1:9 Paul clarifies, “God is faithful you were called by him into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”. It is the responsibility of the Church leaders to strengthen every member in having a fellowship with Christ.

2. To be a Disciple maker

Jesus always called only to follow Him. He never meant for people to attend His meetings but to follow His mission. Jesus’ call was intense. (Mark 1:17).  He called people to follow Him and surrender to the process of becoming fishers of men, in other words His disciples. Today, Church is that institution, which is the ideal training center to consciously prepare members to be disciple makers. As Pastors let us refrain from giving mere comfort in the four walls of our Churches. God of the Bible condemns unproductive people.  In the parable of the talent, the man with one talent did nothing with it and was rebuked as an “unprofitable servant” (Matthew 25:30). In the Great Commission, Jesus commands all of us to “go and make disciples of all nations...” (Matthew 28:19).

3 To be a carrier of the Gospel.

Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3 “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.”. The Gospel was never meant to be harbored. As Apostle Paul passed on to us what he received we are also expected to pass on. But the problem is we stagnate. Instead of becoming the 'carriers' of the Gospel we have become 'reservoirs'.

It's time to take a reality check on whether the above mentioned three major purposes are well integrated in our spiritual lives or are we just satisfied with mere attendance to all Church meetings? Dear Church Pastors and leaders, unless we equip our members to these major three goals, our Churches will be stagnant like reservoirs merely depending on biological growth and for 'Church-hoppers'.

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Deepening the roots of Church engagement!

 

The effectiveness of the ministry was heavily judged by the attendance of its congregation members, which has proved costly for Churches. This issue was addressed in the previous blog, which can be referred HERE. Clergy and Laity have their own rationalization to their defense in regards to drop in attendance and offerings. Apart from their attachment for the Church as an institution and building facility, there are no other concrete reasons to anchor Church members to this entity. Church facility was seen as a holy place for worship and therefore all efforts were focused on maintaining its decorum.

Church members affinity to the Church manifested itself in forms of sitting in a particular place and having their own group of people to interact. Once the Church service is over, the disconnection begins until following Sunday. Churches have also misconstrued the engagement of Church members in its activities like Bible study, women’s fellowships and Youth fellowships, etc. as the loyalty and faithfulness of the members. In fact, such members were hailed and given importance by the Church leaders.

The pandemic has taken the scales off the Churches eyes and stripped it of all its myths. The lament of some pastors is that the Church members have shunned their moral responsibility towards the Church and in taking care of their Pastor. They feel that the members have become too complacent during this pandemic time and the online Churches have added to their callousness. I beg to disagree with such pastors in this perspective.

Let me shift gears here. We all have school grades, standardized testing scores, mileage for our cars and square foot dimensions for our homes. There are measurements for everything in life. In the same way we have measurements to assess the “success” in a ministry. 90% of the churches use Attendance, Building and Cash as success, which is called as the ABC method. These areas can be great indicators of health for a Church. But what about the matters of the heart? Sadly, Churches have no measurements for discipleship and spiritual maturity. Other areas that need to be included in measurement are discipleship, faithfulness and fruitfulness, scores telling how many people have presented gospel over a week, month and year and how many of the new members made a commitment and participated in Church fellowship over the years? Such parameters that indicate deep engagement to Christ's mission is often absent or overlooked.

We need to keep in mind that the Church is a group of redeemed people that live and serve together in such a way that their lives and communities are transformed. Church, the body of Christ, is neither confined to a structure nor is an entity where people gather, as an end in itself. Rather it is a vibrant movement to impact the communities and people under its sphere of influence and nation. Church is the only hope for lost lives and nations. Out of 114 times the “Church” is mentioned in the New Testament, at least ninety of them refer to specific local gatherings of believers who have banded together for fellowship and mission. God intends for every follower of Jesus to be a part of such a gathering under the servant leadership of pastors who shepherd the Church for the glory of God. It is the responsibility of the Church Leadership to engage their members to Christ's mission. Apostle Paul said that God gave pastors, teachers, and elders to the Church so that they could teach the rest of us to minister. A pastor’s job is not to do all of the ministry in a Church, but to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians. 4:12).

Can the Church define to its members what their Church mission will look like and build their engagement for a greater harvest?

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

The Pandemic of Unstable Church attendance!

     

The casualty of Church attendance this pandemic season is constant topic of discussion we hear off late from Pastors and leadership of Churches. It has raised a serious concern on the commitment of the Church members with decreasing tithes and offerings. In some cases, Pastors have been forced to find alternative source of income to function and manage their families. There are the few fortunate who, enjoying a considerably big congregation, managed to survive these adverse times.

'What has caused the apathy of the congregation?' is a pertinent question all Church pastors and leaders need to ask. I would like to illustrate this with a child development analogy.  Parents complain of their child's tantrums in public and the embarrassment they face. They are determined to reprimand the child at all costs and even consider professional counseling sessions for their child. But the fact of the matter is, the public tantrums of the child is an acquired habit at home, which by and large went unaddressed by the parents. They should have disciplined and trained the child in private of their homes to save their face in public. The unaddressed habit has cost the parents their dignity. Don't we find a similar pattern with our congregation members?

Churches placed a great importance on Church attendance for their success. They instilled in the members’ the conviction that their physical presence in Church and financial commitments are what matters to God and Church, the most. We sadly failed to emphasize on the “engagement” part with strategic approach. The reason being, most of the Churches have superficial or no goals and no definite measurable outcomes. The hype was all about having a Sunday performance and namesake Church activities for their members, which have no connection to a specific goal. Eventually, instead of Church services creating revolution in the community, it pathetically ends up as a grand show.

What is engagement? Early Christians didn’t attend Church. They were the Church. Each individual had the enthusiasm to attract a new believer to his/her fellowship. They were completely engaged. However, even with Jesus, many left Him after their needs were met, which led Him to question His team, “Are you also going to leave?”.

Many Churches (even growing Churches) are still counting on getting people to attend, hoping it drives engagement. Cary Nieuwhof on Church growth comments, “The shelf life on attendance strategy is limited because the number of people who want to attend Church drops every year. Consequently, in the future Church attendance won’t drive engagement; engagement will drive attendance.” It's important the Church defines their mission and educate the congregation of its connection to Christ's mission. A live Church is one with active Holistic Mission. It reflects the early Church model - active Church movement, vibrant evangelism work and structured social intervention for their community. It has direct connection to discipleship.

More than 90% of Church congregations are not active disciples. The job of a disciple is to make disciples. Is this true of your congregation? Have your members shared Gospel and have led someone to Christ in the past one or two years? Sadly, in a Christian’s lifetime, majority of them are not able to share the gospel even to one non-Christian friend. This is reality. The truth is people were never engaged with Christ's mission in the first place. Churches today survive either with no definite mission and goals or with ambiguous goals to ensure the security of the Church and its leaders. The member’s engagement is confined to their spiritual belief of attending Sunday Church or attracted to the worship in the Church or to a person, but hardly to the mission. Isn't this a glaring gap? Are we convinced of the problem of engagement over attendance? 

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Doubting John!

John the Baptist was chosen and appointed to make way for Jesus, the Messiah. In fact, it was his calling (Matthew 3:3). We are all aware that John was straightforward, bold in confronting sin and introduced the gospel of repentance (Matthew 3:2), which was soon echoed by Jesus when He started His ministry (Matthew 4:17).

John had clarity in the moral framework after he started preaching the message of repentance and about the kingdom of God. He soon found himself alone in a prison cell, staring at imminent execution for confronting Herod's sin of treachery based on the moral framework established by Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He was the voice in the wilderness, at the peak of his ministry, to the point of being mistaken as the Messiah. He imbibed moral values in people from different walks of life. In fact, John baptized Jesus Himself and thought all the prophecies concerning the Messiah is fulfilled right in front of His eyes. Yet, while in prison it shook his faith system, knowing Jesus was out free, doing His ministry.

John was battling with the fact that no help was coming his way while in prison. In his disciples’ regular visits to meet him, John raises this question and wanted an answer from Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Matthew 11:3

If we have to analyse this, we would soon realize that we also go through situations which raises questions and doubts on the lordship of Christ because we believe for sure everything will turn out to be good for those who believe and follow Him. We Christians are so familiar with Psalms 23, 91 121, 128 and many more such powerful promising words, but when things happen on the contrary, it shakes our very foundation of faith like John's. Today, we are bombarded with messages saying everything will be fine in the end, for Christians. Well, where does this conclusion come from? Are we brainwashed into thinking so? Did it end well for John? No! He was executed. Did it go well with Jesus? No! He was crucified by the cruel Romans. Did it end well for many faith heroes as described in Hebrews 11:34-40. Not at all?

We need to consider the fact that it does not have to end well here on earth, but surely it does end well in terms of our eternity. Jesus did respond to the surging doubt of John by aligning his faith and calling and with the work and ministry of Jesus himself. He said, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receives the sight, the lame walk, these with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.” Two things Jesus said, to report what they heard and to report what they saw. What they heard was the gospel, the good news and the hope of eternity and what they witnessed was the gospel accompanied by signs and wonders. Jesus was the Messiah who came to save and seek the lost.

We may have to face constant challenges, loneliness, crisis and hopelessness. But hold on to your faith in Christ Jesus. Don’t estimate life only to exist on this earth. Life is eternal, inclusive of life after death. Death is just a temporary barrier here on earth but a gateway to meet Jesus face to face. Peter encourages us with these words, "but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:13 KJV. Suffering and crisis are part of our life, more so, for Christians to shape us and draw us closer to Him. All that Jesus expects is our unwavering faith on Christ and His finished work.

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

‘Follow Me’ / ‘Imitate me’ - The Misunderstood "Me"

 

When man tries to usurp God, that's when challenges shift from personal to a corporate level. The problem today is people are elevated and worshipped but God is used.  In some cases, people are deceived to an extent of elevating ordinary people as God. We find an incident in the book of Acts when Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra. Paul heals the man who was lame from birth and then people shouted saying, “The gods have come down to us in human from” Acts 14:10. In verse 13, it is recorded that the priest of Zeus brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds to offer sacrifice (Acts 14:13). Paul and Barnabas did not just overlook the misunderstanding. They tore their robes and rushed to the crowd shouting and clarifying that they are not gods, but servants of the living God proclaiming good news (Acts 14:15).

However, in present times, specially gifted people elevate themselves to the point of importance and mislead people. Spiritual leaders and Pastors continue begging people to follow the speaker in social media. Building fan base has become the ultimate priority and ulterior goal, which in turn means more money. The success of ministry and churches is sadly gauged by the "ABC model" - Attendance, Building and Cash.

Jesus' phrase ‘Follow me’ was used to build a team of twelve ordinary men to be revolutionaries. The phrase ‘Imitate me’ (1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1) was used by Apostle Paul to create a model. We confuse these phrases in our ministry. Allow me to explain my point. When Jesus used the phrase ‘Follow me’, it had a definite outcome. If you check in Mark 1:17 it says, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.”. Only Jesus could use this phrase, ‘follow me’, in its true sense, because He was God Himself. Therefore, the agenda and goal of every Christian, Pastor and leader should be to get people to follow Christ. I reiterate, it's not the person or their ministry. It is not merely following the leader and being stunted in their vision to understand the Great Commission but being part of the ministry to engage and fulfill Christ's mission. There is a major difference.

Now coming to Paul,  we find in his epistles the phrase ‘imitate me’. In 1 Corinthians 4:16 says, ‘Therefore I urge you to imitate me’. And then in 1 Corinthians 11:1 further clarifies by stating this, “imitate me as I also imitate Christ”. It is perfectly ok to create a model or an example for people to see Christ in us. But not to create a fan base to meet our ends. Christ ensured that the followers become fishers of men, meaning ‘Disciples’ are supposed to make disciples. It is not just to settle and live a good Christian life without fulfilling God’s purpose to reach the non-Christians. Let us stop striving to build our base. The question that begs for an answer is are our followers equipped enough to share the gospel and create a model so that the crowd can find Christ?

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Smart drifting to fall aside!

 

"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. "Galatians 3:3-4 KJV

It isn't always a grave deviation that demands us to deflect from our convictions. It only takes tiny adjustments and subtle compromises that entices us to wander away from the truth. Apostle Paul's question to all of us stirs up our conscience and challenges us to remember our initial commitments and sufferings endured for Christ. Our life has taken a devious turn of living in blatant carnality and embracing a form of godliness. It is this constant seepage of unfaithfulness that has inundated our hearts to totally submerge our faithfulness and loyalty to God altogether.

It's ever too familiar with many children of God who started their voyage with Christ passionately, but anchored themselves mid journey in complacency, resulting in diminished enthusiasm and commitment. Somehow, this comfortable life seems enticing and it convinces a believer to assume that he/she needs comfort and needs met by God all his/her life, with no room for any suffering. This flawed theology gives way to accommodate prosperity theology, which is guaranteed to wreck our faith sooner or later.

It would be wise on our part to consciously analyze where we stand in our faith journey. It is possible to be deceived and blindsided by many factors including our ministerial responsibilities. Apostle Paul's all time advice is worth being made a rule of the thumb, "but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 CSB. Testing all things should include the good and the fake. And most important advice given to us is to stay away from every kind of evil. For Christians the bigger outright crimes are not the BIG NO's, but the very small compromises that looked religious to us, at some point.

It is a disheartening fact to start with the spirit and drift to perfect in flesh. The bad swallows up the good and soon takes the one who has drifted to become the worst kind of evil person. Apostle Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3:13, saying, "Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.". Today there are other religious faiths who have exclusively started a website and Twitter account to expose the debauchery and embezzlement of Christians done in the name of Christ. We look no different from other faiths when it comes to these types of crimes committed. The commonalities are alarming.

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Galatians 5:9 NKJV. It doesn't take obvious temptations to subvert one from the journey of faith. Small compromises can cause similar damage. It's time for us to retrospect and maybe start asking the following questions, as individuals, to help check our spiritual health:

What is my area of vulnerability?

Which area of my life am I forced to compromise?

Who are my friends who have strong influences on me?

Where do I fail miserably?

What are my weaknesses?

Have I disobeyed God lately in any matter?

How involved am I in His mission?

How do I utilize most of my time?

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Beyond Remedy!

 

Global news is flooded with catastrophes, natural disasters, riots and man-made threats rendering human devastation beyond remedy. The world seems to run into perpetual chaos shaking everything at its foundation. There is a sense of hopelessness looming despite of relief and rehabilitation work done through Government and religious institutions. Death of family members and loss of job are adding to the woes. We all need God's intervention in this turmoil. Churches are praying for the healing and restoration of the land and God has to show mercy on the entire human race.

Are we able to infer anything from all of this chaos? God is drawing the attention of the entire world towards Him is an undeniable fact. Especially, reminding the Churches to be even more inclined towards His mission. Activities and strategies on reaching the nations are thriving but the actual reaching of the non-Christian world is still comparatively low. With Christendom held up in its own crisis during this time, its focus has stunted to safety zone and the four walls of the Church.

Let us not forget things are moving rapidly to the final culmination. Allow me to reiterate that He is a God of justice and fairness, as His judgement perfectly fits parallel to His divine nature of love. God has not become less gracious or powerless. Things need to culminate. Few Biblical verses which paints the current dreadful scenario are as follows:

“The one who is far off will die by plague; the one who is near will fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is spared will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust my wrath on them." Ezekiel 6:12

“Whoever flees at the sound of panic will fall into a pit, and whoever escapes from the pit will be caught in a trap. For the floodgates on high are opened, and the foundation of the earth are shaken.”. Isaiah 24:18

“It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him. Won’t the day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?” Amos 5:19-20

“What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.” Joel 1:4

We are so used to speaking blessings that sometimes we fail to take heed to the warning messages. All is not well! Each day we are moving closer to the coming of the Lord. Incessant disasters are an alarm of the eleventh hour. I think it is important to accelerate our urgency in the gospel work and sensitize human race.  There are few questions we need to retrospect personally. They are:

>How do we understand a time like this?

>How are we carrying the Mission of God to the Non-Christian world?

>Is our Church really burdened to connect with the Non Christian community? What is the Evangelism growth rate?

>What is satisfying us in a time like this?

>What is hindering us? 

>How are we willing to align our obedience to the Great Commission?

May the Lord prepare us to be effective and faithful workers in His vineyard.!

Click here  You can follow on Twitter